Eating healthy is something we all would like to do, or maybe better said; eating healthy is something we all 'know' we should be doing.
In order to eat healthy we must know how to make the right food choices, then continue to establish those food choices on a daily basis to perpetuate a healthy lifestyle.
Healthy eating for life is all about what you eat, which makes the choices very crucial to your results.
Looking around at all the weight problems plaguing our society today, one might think that we have forgotten what healthy eating is really all about.
Our bodies were designed to need nutrition in the form of food for our survival, plain and simple.
But, how did we ever get to the point, where eating food for survival, turned into a conglomeration of fast food industries that have no concern for the health of our society? Nobody truly wants to be overweight.
No one looks in the mirror at their cellulite dimples all over their body and finds it sexy.
How did we ever get to this state anyway? It didn't happen overnight; that's for sure.
It crept up on us while we were asleep at the dinner table! Before we knew it we were 20 lbs (or more) overweight.
Turning back the clock seemed to be almost impossible.
If losing weight was as easy as the plethora of magazines in grocery stores tout it to be, there wouldn't be a weight problem.
Fact is, habits are hard to break.
If we are overweight, it's because we have allowed unhealthy eating habits to take over our lives; Children that grow up with bad eating habits don't always know that there are alternatives.
They have been taught to eat certain foods and, as a result, those foods are strongly woven into their very lifestyles.
Then there is Emotional eating which can be very self destructive.
It can become a roller coaster ride: The emotions you're overwhelmed with sets off improper eating which sets off guilt which sets off more emotions which...
I think you get the picture.
Emotional eating needs to be seen as a problem and understood before the proper steps can be taken to start living a healthier lifestyle.
The word 'diet' is one of those four letter words that, to me, has a very negative connotation to it.
No one goes on a diet thinking, "Yes! I want to diet the rest of my life so I can be thin -- and depressed!" You might psych yourself up to lose some weight by following a strict diet but only by pure grit.
Then, when the weight is lost (if the weight is lost), you just go back to your old eating habits and the weight you might have lost is back and then some.
When we replace the word 'diet' with 'lifestyle' it doesn't sound like so much work.
Everybody has a lifestyle, whether it's a healthy lifestyle or an unhealthy lifestyle is decided by the choice of foods that you choose to eat on a day to day basis.
If we can educate ourselves on the basics of nutrition and start making healthy changes to our lifestyles good things start to happen to us.
We start to lose weight and feel better about ourselves.
We have a better attitude about work, life, friends, and family.
We have energy left at the end of the day to do the things we want to do.
It starts a positive 'snowball effect' and before you know it you're hooked on this 'healthy lifestyle'.
Eating healthy will just become second nature.
Food is necessary and put here on earth not only for us to enjoy, but also to sustain us and keep us healthy.
It never ceases to amaze me how creative man is with food.
There are endless varieties of recipes to be found in books, eBooks and online.
We never get tired of searching for new recipes to try.
If food is such an important part of our daily lives why are most of us walking around hungry, afraid to eat anything for fear of gaining more weight? So what's the key to all of this? -- Give up, live it up, eat and be fat? -- I don't think so.
I think the answer is much more realistic than that.
Have you ever heard the saying "All things in moderation"? How about, instead of using the word "denial" when it comes to eating, we replace it with the word "self control".
How about we replace the word "ignorance" when it comes to lifestyle with the word "knowledge"? One of my favorite sayings is "Knowledge brings understanding, and then wisdom, to change your world for the better - starting today".
This is what you need.
When you equip yourself with knowledge it brings understanding and then you can apply wisdom to change your world (your situation) for the better.
You will never be able to lose weight until you gain the knowledge you need to start that happening in your life.
Once you understand what certain foods do or don't do for your body, it will change your outlook toward food and the effect it has on your lifestyle.
Those cravings you get for certain wrong foods won't be as strong because you will know what they do to your body.
But, back to that word moderation for a moment - You can have your favorite foods if you want -- but with moderation.
Instead of food owning you, you will own food.
You will eat because you enjoy eating knowing food sustains you and keeps you thriving.
Moderation and self control bring a new freedom to your life.